Friendship yields lasting mutual benefit for Texans' Bill...

1of2Texans coach Bill O'Brien, left, and 49ers coach Chip Kelly first met in 1994 when O'Brien was coaching at Brown and Kelly was an assistant at Johns Hopkins.Photo: Jeff Chiu, STF

2of2Texans coach Bill O'Brien, left, and 49ers coach Chip Kelly first met in 1994 when O'Brien was coaching at Brown and Kelly was an assistant at Johns Hopkins.Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The coaching roots of Texans coach Bill O'Brien and San Francisco 49ers coach Chip Kelly intersected more than two decades ago, building a friendship based on their football philosophies and shared New England background.

Their bond strengthened as O'Brien moved on to work for the New England Patriots staff as Kelly frequently visited their practices when he was coaching at New Hampshire.

They met in 1994 when Kelly was the defensive coordinator at Johns Hopkins and O'Brien was coaching the inside linebackers at Brown.

Ironically, both men emerged later as offensive gurus.

O'Brien became known in industry circles as The Quarterback Whisperer. And Kelly developed a unique brand of fast-break football with his frenetic pace at Oregon and hopes to duplicate that success in the NFL after a mixed bag with the Philadelphia Eagles.

"We just kind of ran in the same circles," said Kelly, 52, a native of Dover, N.H. "We are kindred spirits."

When O'Brien was at Brown, Georgia Tech and the Patriots, where he was a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, Kelly visited to hang out and talk strategy.

Together again

So all of that history made a joint practice Friday between the Texans and 49ers in advance of Sunday's preseason opener at Levi's Stadium a natural fit.

"I think he's outstanding," Kelly said of O'Brien. "We've kept in touch wherever he's been, whether it was Georgia Tech, I had opportunities when I was at New Hampshire to go visit him there. When he took over as the quarterbacks coach and I was at Oregon, I would always come back in the summertime and spend time with (O'Brien) then, just talking football.

"So, we've kept in touch over the years. I think he's done an outstanding job, did an outstanding job at Penn State as the head coach and then obviously taking Houston to the playoffs last year."

Through two seasons, O'Brien has compiled an 18-14 record and won the AFC South Division title last year. While establishing his offensive playbook and his hard-nosed coaching style, O'Brien has grown as a coach and fostered stronger relationships within the locker room.

This is arguably his most talented team after overhauling the offensive backfield this offseason with the signing of quarterback Brock Osweiler to a $72 million contract and running back Lamar Miller to a $26 million deal.

"I just think he's sound in everything he does," Kelly said. "I think he takes a real good analytical approach in terms of how it is, but OB's a tough guy and I think his teams reflect his personality. There's a toughness to any team that he's coaching, and I think it shows when you see his teams play on the field."

Kelly was fired by Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie after going 26-21 in three seasons. Now, he is restarting his NFL coaching career with the 49ers and is conducting a quarterback competition that Blaine Gabbert leads ahead of former starter Colin Kaepernick.

O'Brien's coaching staff includes tight ends coach John Perry, a former Kelly assistant at New Hampshire. O'Brien also has ties to 49ers defensive line coach Jerry Azzinaro and 49ers offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins. Kelly tried to hire Texans linebackers coach Mike Vrabel, but Vrabel, whom Kelly called one of the top assistant coaches in the NFL, chose to remain in Houston after receiving a raise. Kelly also interviewed Texans secondary coach John Butler for the job.

"He's older than me, so he knows bigger words than I do," said O'Brien, 46, a former Bear Bryant and Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year from Dorchester, Mass. "We both grew up in the Northeast, so we have a lot in common that way. We believe in a similar type of football, smart players and guys who love the game. We believe in similar things when it comes to football. We used to talk a lot of football together, things like that."

Although not all of Kelly's unique methods clicked in Philadelphia and he has been criticized for scoring so fast and not sustaining drives to his defenses' detriment, the former Eddie Robinson and Pac-10 Coach of the Year has an innovative approach to the game.

"He's a great coach," O'Brien said. "Very, very bright guy, has a very quick mind, good sense of humor, great relationships with his players and he really understands the game.

"Any time you can pair up with a team like that, you're going to get a lot of work done because there's a lot of ideas, a lot of creativity that goes into planning that practice. It was really good."

Aaron Wilson is a Texans beat writer for the Houston Chronicle, joining the paper in August 2015. He was a Baltimore Ravens beat writer from 2001 to 2015, working for The Baltimore Sun, including coverage of Super Bowl XLVII, the Ray Rice domestic violence case and the careers of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Jonathan Ogden, and previously covered the team for the Carroll County Times and the Annapolis Capital.

This marks the second time the Washington, D.C. native has covered the AFC South, previously covering the Tennessee Titans and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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